No. 8 Tennessee slowly gets past Tarleton State, 65-46
No. 8 Tennessee appeared to get a head start on its Christmas break Thursday night, struggling to hit shots and slogging through a 65-46 win over visiting Tarleton State at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols (9-3), who closed the game on a 15-2 run over the final four minutes, 27 seconds, got 13 points from Zakai Zeigler, Santiago Vescovi had 12 and Josiah-Jordan James had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jordan Gainey scored nine, Jonas Aidoo had seven and Dalton Knecht was quiet for a third straight game, finishing with six.
Tennessee, after leading 39-25 at halftime, scored just 10 points over he first 15:33 of second half and shot just 21.4% shooting during the second half as a whole, going 6-for-28 from the field. The Vols were 2-for-14 from the 3-point line after a 6-for-11 first half.
The upset bid from Tarleton State (8-4) was paced by three players. Devon Barnes had 12 while KiAndre Gaddy and Lue Williams had 10 each.
Tennessee’s lead, which was at 15 just under four minutes into the second half, was down to six with 6:24 left after Tarleton State’s Dario Dominguez scored. The Vols at the time had scored just nine points in the first 14 minutes of the second half, starting 3-for-23 from the field and 2-for-13 at the 3-point line out of the halftime break.
Vescovi hit a 3-pointer just under four minutes into the second half, the seventh three of the night for the Vols and building the lead to 42-27.
Tennessee made just three shots in the first nine minutes, 37 seconds of the second half. They hit just two more over the next 6:25, but built the lead back to 10 on a Gainey layup with 4:05 to go.
The lead was 16 after two Zeigler free throws at the 2:44 mark and a Zeigler layup with 2:08 left, making it a 12-2 Tennessee run over three minutes.
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Vols used 15-2 run to take control in first half
Tarleton State led 12-10 with 11:14 left in the first half after a sleepy start from Tennessee. The Vols woke up with a 15-2 run over the next five minutes, building a 25-14 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
Knecht, Vescovi and Zeigler all had 3-pointers during the run. Tennessee went 6-for-11 from the 3-point line and shot 51.9% from the field in the first half.
Six of Tennessee’s scorers in the first half had five points or more, led by seven each from Zeigler and Vescovi. Knecht and Aidoo scored six each and Gainey and James both had five.
Up Next: Tennessee vs. Norfolk State, January 2, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Thursday night’s game against Tarleton State was the final game before an extended Christmas break for the Vols, who are now off until January 2, when they host Norfolk State at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will start at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by SEC Network.
Tennessee hosts Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 6 in a 6 p.m. ET start on SEC Network. The Rebels improved to 10-0 with an 88-78 win over Cal in the early game in San Antonio on Saturday.
The Vols go on the road in conference play for the first time on January 10 at Mississippi State, a 7 p.m. ET SEC Network game at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
